I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI

On one hand, I am floored by the news. On the other hand, I am glad he is able to rest and enjoy retirement. I think this will set a healthy precedent.

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Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, Logan Act, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.

Yeah, are you just rehashing what everyone knows? Because you still haven't shown where Ratzinger, not failed to act, but acted in a cover-up. And Marciel was pursued by Ratzinger and he denounced him. Why not include that? Are you covering facts up?

Humanity in general was far scummier, therefore you get scummier Popes.

Did Pope Palpatine do anything good at all? Seems like he'll be remembered for looking like a Sith Lord over anything else...and being a coverup artist.

Humanity wasn't scummier in the middle ages. It was a different culture, though, and the Vatican was a political actor, not the spiritual actor it primarily plays today. It was a culture of romance and chivalry and power. They didn't have cats on the internet to occupy their time like we are fortunate to have.

Clement VII (1523-1534). Giulio de' Medici became Clement VII. During his reign the Protestants made huge gains in Germany and Scandinavia. In England, in 1527, King Henry VIII asked Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Unfortunately for Clement, Catherine was the aunt of the uncrowned Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The pope could not politically afford to grant the request. Henry VIII was refused and the English church broke with Rome. Clement got caught in the middle of Italian and European politics and mismanaged his treaties with both France and the Empire. First he supported Francis I, thereby angering Emperor Charles V. Then, after a French defeat, he sought protection from Charles V. Then he joined an alliance with France, Milan, Florence, and Venice against the emperor. This mismanagement and intrigue led to the invasion of Italy and Rome by Charles V in 1527. As his troops attacked Rome, the pro-imperial Colonna family killed fellow-citizens and captured the Vatican. The pope was able to escape to Castel Sant' Angelo by a secret passage in the Vatican built by Alexander VI. The pope and the emperor agreed to terms, but the pope violated the agreement to lay waste to Colonna family properties. Charles V agreed to a truce bought for the price of 60,000 ducats. However, his 30,000 troops mutinied and sacked Rome. The Swiss guard (the pope's protectors) was cut down to the last man. Rome was ravaged for eight days, and off and on for nine months. Massacre, plunder, rape, and fire raged out of control. Clergy were brutalized, nuns were drug off to brothels or sold to soldiers in the streets. Palaces were plundered, churches and monasteries sacked for treasure, and tombs broken into in search of treasure. The Vatican was used as a stable. 2,000 bodies were thrown into the Tiber River, 9,800 buried. Loot and ransom were estimated at three to four million ducats. As part of the eventual settlement Charles V was crowned King of Italy and Naples and emperor in 1530, the last emperor to be crowned by a pope.

Clement spent the rest of his pontificate restoring his family's fortunes in Florence. The Medici had been overthrown in Florence by a republican government. With help from the army of Charles V, Medici rule was reestablished in Florence after a ten month siege. He was also able to marry Catherine de' Medici to the French king's second son and her brother to a daughter of Charles V. When he died he was universally hated. His corpse was dug up, mutilated, and thrust through the heart with a sword, and thrown on the steps of St Peters Basilica.Clement was a patron of Cellini, Raphael, and Michelangelo. He commissioned the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. His political difficulties kept him from effectively dealing with the Protestant problem.

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Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, Logan Act, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.

Comparing a Pope today to a Pope from 500 years ago is kind of like comparing quarterbacks from different eras. A 3,000-yard passer was considered prolific in 1975...today, it's shit. There are different standards for human indecency.

As 14XX goes, raping and torturing and selling the papacy was pretty ****ing bad, but you could get away with it.

You couldn't get away with that today...but you can get away with a massive coverup of child abuse...no problem.

John XII was Pope from 955 to 964. On 963, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I summoned a council, levelling charges that John had ordained a deacon in a stable, consecrated a 10-year-old boy as bishop of Todi, converted the Lateran Palace into a brothel, raped female pilgrims in St. Peter's, stolen church offerings, drank toasts to the devil, and invoked the aid of Jove, Venus, and other pagan gods when playing dice. He was deposed, but returned as pope when Otto left Rome, maiming and mutilating all who had opposed him. On 964, he was apparently beaten by the husband of a woman with which he was having an affair, dying three days later without receiving confession or the sacraments.

Keep in mind, a lot of histories of these popes were written by those who deposed them and could taint the historical record.

the scandal ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangling that summer. Talk about bad Popes.

__________________
Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, Logan Act, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.